Chapter 5

Chapter 5

11:30 p.m.

I drove down an empty expressway.

I wasn’t there yet, but I could already smell the salty dampness of the tide.

I pulled over, facing the harbor. Several black Santanas were already parked there.

Their headlights shone straight at me.

Honestly, it would be impossible to say I hadn’t sensed anything strange about the assignment they’d given me this time.

But how could I go against Xu Chang?

If I defied him, I would be exposed.

I got out of the car, my hands tucked into the pockets of my trench coat, and narrowed my eyes at the man sitting on the hood of one of the cars.

The person I was supposed to trade with this time.

Everyone in the underworld called him Er Mang Ge. He lived up to the name-ruthless and insane.

And from what I’d heard, he had more than a few dirty businesses on his hands.

“Looks like my goods… made it here perfectly.”

He jumped off the hood with a careless swagger and looked me up and down.

His gaze made me uncomfortable, but I still kept my composure and handed him the suitcase from the back seat.

“The goods are here. Check them yourself.”

But he only raised an eyebrow and looked at me.

“Miss Chen, would you mind opening the suitcase for me?”

His gaze was still glued to me, his smile strange and greasy. Thinking back, I suppose that was when I had already realized something was wrong.

But that row of headlights was shining straight at me. Where could I possibly go?

The suitcase opened. Inside were heavy stones.

The man’s hoarse, perverted laughter pierced my eardrums.

“Heh-heh, Miss Chen…”

“You still don’t get it? These ‘goods’…”

“Aren’t they you?”

“Where is Xu Chang?! I want to see Xu Chang!”

“You can’t do this to me! Let me see Xu Chang!”

“Xu Chang!! Xu Chang! Xu Chang!!”

The iron shackles around my wrists rattled sharply as I yanked at them, but the only response I got was the drip, drip of water falling somewhere in the corner.

I swallowed and realized I had finally shouted myself hoarse.

I curled up in the corner-not because I was that scared, but because… it was cold.

Yes, I had noticed long ago that Xu Chang had begun to suspect me.

But I truly couldn’t understand why he could sell me off so decisively.

Putting aside the feelings between us over all these years, just based on the things I had done for him, he should have trusted me at least a little more.

He sold me off just like that? Because of a few words from Lin Manzhi?

I started biting my nails out of habit, but the more I thought about it, the more tangled everything became.

In that mess of confusion, the only thing I could be certain of was this: I couldn’t die.

No matter what, I couldn’t die, because my mission wasn’t complete yet.

Which meant the only person who could save me now was Xu Chang.

That was why I kept screaming his name.

I couldn’t figure out what he had felt for me all these years, but of one thing I was certain: no one would be willing to spend five birthdays with a strange woman.

Especially not someone like Xu Chang… a monster who had lost all humanity.

So even if it was a gamble, I had to try.

When I once again stubbornly shouted his name, someone finally opened the iron door.

“Seriously, don’t you get tired of yelling like that?”

“Xu Chang isn’t coming to save you! Fuck, if the boss didn’t want to sell your organs…”

“I’d really love to have some fun with you first.”

“…”

I panted, glaring at him.

“Let me see Xu Chang…”

“Fuck, didn’t I tell you he’s not-”

Just as the man’s foot was about to come down on me, someone suddenly stopped him.

It was that… Er Mang Ge.

“Let me see Xu Chang. I have something to say to him.”

No one answered, so I raised my voice.

“I said I want to see Xu Chang! Xu Chang!”

The handcuffs clanged loudly as I shook them, until at a certain moment, a low, calm voice sounded above my head.

I stopped.

“Why are you calling me?”

“Ah Qing, who are you acting spoiled with?”

“…”

I truly hadn’t expected Xu Chang to actually be there.

So the moment I heard his voice, I froze for no reason at all.

There wasn’t even a speck of dust on the tips of his shoes. I was covered in filth, yet I still had to lift my head to look at him, spotless as ever.

“Xu Chang, why do you suspect me?”

“I’ve been with you for so many years. Why did you suspect me without even asking?”

“Did you ever think that Lin Manzhi… that she set me up?”

I tried to make my expression look as sincere as possible, until the man crouched down in front of me.

His fingers brushed lightly over my cheek.

Anyone who didn’t know better might have thought he was comforting his lover.

“Even now, I suppose I can still feel softhearted toward you.”

“Ah Qing, if you want to blame someone… blame yourself for provoking me.”

The hand stroking my jaw gradually moved to my throat, and he slowly tightened his grip.

Little by little, I couldn’t breathe. I stared into his eyes, just stared.

They were like a black, bottomless pool. I couldn’t see the depths, nor could I see the bloody-mouthed beast hidden inside.

Then he suddenly let me go. I collapsed to the floor, coughing violently.

Through the haze, I heard his voice. He was speaking to Er Mang Ge.

“Do whatever you want with her.”

“…”

As I coughed, I stared at the spotless cuffs of his trousers.

Before he left, those were the last words I said to him.

“Lin Manzhi must have lied to you.”

“Why won’t you… believe me?”